Sasquatch22 and I have been conversing for a while now about doing a hike up around Mount St Helens. Before today I've never done any hiking up there, and I have been eager to check it out.
Sasquatch22 put together a plan: Go up the Cinnamon Trail #204 from Red Rock Pass, tag the Kalama Horse Camp, and head back on the Toutle Trail #238. Possible side trip at the end of the day for photo opportunities at Goat Marsh.
At the Redrock Pass Trailhead off Road 81.
Crooked shot of the trailhead sign.
We started up, with high hopes and great expectations!
Very soon we could see the mountain, sort of, through the clouds.
As we progressed up the trail we started seeing lots of signs of animal passage - tracks and scat galore. Not many human prints though... Very soon we started to encounter solid patches of snow, and eventually the trail was completely obscured by the white stuff.
Side note: what made this?
Eventually we started completely losing sight of where the trail was, and everything pretty much looked the same - trees and snow, with little indication of where the trail was, and no markings or flagging to be seen. We snooped around a bit... Sasquatch22's brother, um, let's call him Brother-of-Sasquatch? or B.O.S.? Okay, I'll call him Bill, since that's his name. Bill did some diligent scouting ahead of us and had no luck finding where the trail was. So, feeling frustrated and slightly defeated, we turned around and headed back down. At that point we'd made it about a mile up the trail.
Arriving back at the trailhead, - Crusak aka Jim, Sasquatch22, and B.O.S. aka Bill.
Now we had to come up with a plan B, or just bag it and head home. My hiking partners were a little frustrated by the snow. My mind was racing though, as I considered the potential! A new and amazing area for me to explore. I was already dreaming of a return trip, once the snow melts...
I deferred to S-22 and B.O.S. and their expert knowledge of the MSH area, and they decided to go check out Goat Mountain and Goat Marsh. Since it was all new to me, I was in.
Arriving at our next destination.
We hiked into the Goat Marsh area. Such an interesting place to visit! More pics.
Fortunately the morning clouds started parting, and we got some fantastic views of Mount St Helens from Goat Marsh Lake.
Part 1 of the TR is done here... Part 2 follows, with more pics (since I've reached the 15 attachment limit)
And sorry I was a little late getting to the trailhead. LOL that one missed turn had me checking out real estate along the reservoir instead of driving to the trailhead. 
